"None other than James Earl Jones, the legendary voice of Darth Vader, recorded new phrases exclusively for this special figure. The figure, a commanding Vader, is mounted on an exclusive base and in exclusive Celebration III packaging, and it ... speaks!"

OK, that seriously kicks some ass.

"The voice mechanism can be operated without opening the carded figure. But even more important, the batteries that power the speaking voice can be changed from the back of the stand without disturbing the packaging."

I'm seriously impressed by this. They are really working their butts off to work with collectors on this. Cool!

Sold at the Celebration III Store, planned for Exhibit Hall F in the Indiana Convention Center, April 21 - 24, 2005. Quantities divided among all four days of the show; some will be sold each day while supplies last.

Price: $15.00, including tax.

Quantities are limited per person and badge type. Individuals with 4-day badges may purchase a total of 4 action figures, while supplies last. Those with 1-day badges may purchase 1 action figure, while supplies last.

The Celebration III Store staff will punch badges for each purchase, one punch per figure. For example, if a 4-day badge holder purchases 2 figures, they may go back to the store and purchase 2 more at a different time. There will be specific areas marked on the badges for the punches.

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Attention Star Wars action figure fans, and fans of unique, exclusive collectibles: Darth Vader himself, or rather his voice, will be appearing at Star Wars Celebration III this April 21 to 24 when Hasbro and Lucasfilm unveil the new Darth Vader Celebration III action figure.None other than James Earl Jones, the legendary voice of Darth Vader, recorded new phrases exclusively for this special figure. The figure, a commanding Vader, is mounted on an exclusive base and in exclusive Celebration III packaging, and it ... speaks!

Jones' recorded lines for the figure include: "The dark side of the Force is strong with you;" "Your journey to the dark side is now complete;" "Prepare to experience the Revenge of the Sith. It is your destiny;" and the soon-to-be-legendary "Welcome to Star Wars Celebration III. Never will you find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy." There is also a recording of the iconic Darth Vader breathing.

The figure is especially appropriate considering the May 19th premiere of Episode III Revenge of the Sith, in which Anakin Skywalker makes his transformation into Darth Vader, the villain whose chilling presence helped make the first Star Wars trilogy so memorable.

"Darth Vader is the villain everybody loves to hate, and hates to love," says Derek Stothard, Director of Toys at Lucas Licensing. "He's coming back in Episode III and we're telling his story. We are closing the circle, and bringing the saga back to the beginning of A New Hope."

When Hasbro and Lucasfilm started planning the new figure for Celebration III they considered a number of ideas, including producing another George Lucas-inspired figure based on the popularity of "Jorg Sacul" at Celebration II. They also considered producing a talking C-3PO figure.

"We discussed using a voice chip in that figure, because C-3PO has such funny and memorable sound qualities in his dialogue," says Stothard. "But as the project took shape, it became obvious that this would be the 'Year of Darth Vader.'"

The team decided to see if James Earl Jones would be available to provide new lines for the toy, providing a landmark collectible for Star Wars fans at Celebration III. He was.

"To have James Earl Jones’ voice in this figure speaking directly to the fans at Celebration III ... that is really something special," Stothard adds.

Darth Vader comes in a unique Celebration III package, mounted on a stand reminiscent of the interior of Cloud City. The packaging reflects well-thought engineering with collectors in mind. The voice mechanism can be operated without opening the carded figure. But even more important, the batteries that power the speaking voice can be changed from the back of the stand without disturbing the packaging. This is a Vader for the ages!

While he's pleased with the special battery feature, Star Wars collecting authority Steve Sansweet is reminded that there is far more to this Vader than just a great presentation.

"This figure takes one of the best lines of the movie and makes it into a virtual souvenir of Celebration III," says Sansweet, Head of Fan Relations at Lucasfilm. "It will remind people of the wonderful time they had at the show, and of the sense of community that permeates Star Wars."

In response to the "feeding frenzy" over the Jorg Sacul figure at Celebration II, Lucasfilm, Hasbro, and Gen Con LLC, which runs the show, have devised plans to try to make sure that the new Vader figure is easier to purchase and more fairly distributed.

As for this figure, I've got to say that it's very COOL that they've made the effort for the "carded" collectors to allow you to be able to remove/change the battery from the back without opening or damaging the packaging in the slightest bit. Hopefully Hasbro starts doing the same in the future, when necessary...

SilverZ

Well, that looks pretty special. Really pretty thrilled with now much effort seems to have gone into the piece. I wonder if that figure is all-new, or is a kit bash of the upcoming ROTS Vader in some way. I have a feeling I'll never want to see Vader again after 2005 however.

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"It will remind people of the wonderful time they had at the show, and of the sense of community that permeates Star Wars."

Or at least remind people of the long lines at the show, and of the sense of desperation that permeates acquiring limited Star Wars collectibles.